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Plans for Pooler biomedical treatment plant moves forward

The Pooler City Council on Aug. 19 granted a conditional use permit for a commerical biomedical waste treatment facility on Pine Meadow Drive, said to be the first in Chatham County. Marcus E. Howard/Savannah Morning News

The Pooler City Council on Aug. 19 granted a conditional use permit for a commerical biomedical waste treatment facility on Pine Meadow Drive. Marcus E. Howard/Savannah Morning News

A biomedical waste treatment company has received the green light to operate in the city of Pooler, becoming what is believed to be the only such facility in Chatham County.

Hospitals, clinics, funeral homes, veterinary offices, labs and other companies that generate biomedical waste typically send it off to be specially treated and disposed.

With that in mind, PMP Inc. has assured city officials the company will have a safe operation.

With no opposition, the Pooler City Council on Aug. 19 granted a conditional use request for PMP to move to an existing and enclosed 6,400-square-foot facility just off Dean Forest Road and Interstate 16. The city’s planning and zoning board gave its approval a week earlier.

Currently, local businesses that generate biomedical waste usually have it treated in Jacksonville, Fla., according to Atlantic Waste Vice President Ben Wall Jr., who will operate PMP.

“It’s very costly for these medical facilities — whether it be Candler, Memorial or these different doctors — to use the services we plan to provide because it’s such a long haul for trucking,” Wall said in an interview before the meeting.

He acknowledged the term “biomedical waste” may sound alarming, but area businesses and nearby residents in places such as Savannah Pines Mobile Home Park in Garden City, should not be worried, he said. In July, Pooler notified adjacent property owners of PMP’s request.

Wall said about 15 employees would treat an estimated five tons of waste a day.

In response to Allen’s concern about potential loud noises from the facility, Wall said there would be none, according to meeting minutes.

“I had a couple of questions myself, and they answered the questions,” Allen, the council’s building and zoning committee chairman, said after the meeting. “It just seemed like it was a safe operation the way it sounded and all.”

Rules that regulate the handling of biomedical waste, also known as medical or infectious waste, are primarily established at the state level.

Georgia Tech Research Institute’s Georgia Environmental Compliance Assistance Program defines biomedical waste generally as “any solid waste that is generated in the diagnosis, treatment, research, production or testing of biologicals for humans or animals.”

Examples include blood-soaked bandages, used surgical gloves or needles and removed body organs.

Wall said PMP will work with waste from places such as local hospitals and treat it in an autoclave machine using high pressure steam heat to sterilize it. It would then be emptied into a compactor, he said, and transported off-site likely to Superior Landfill on Little Neck Road off I-95 in west Chatham County.

Angel Aguiar of Kentucky-based Bondtech Treatment Technology, which manufactures autoclave devices, told city planning and zoning board members on behalf of Wall that the “process will not produce any noise and at the end of each treatment cycle, which is usually one hour, there is a release of sterile steam for about 60 seconds, and the steam is relatively odorless and will not cause a nuisance.”

Aguiar told council members no chemicals are used during sterilization and that items are ready for solid waste disposal once they are processed, meeting minutes showed.

Councilman Stevie Wall made the motion to approve conditional use for as long as PMP is in existence and abides by the promises it made. Councilwoman Rebecca Benton seconded the motion before the measure was approved.

Biomedical waste may only be transferred, stored and treated by state Environmental Protection Division-approved facilities with valid operating permits, according to the compliance assistance program.

Wall said he planned to go through environmental requirements as soon as city officials approved his conditional use request.